Selena Gomez Says She Proud "Now More Than Ever" To Be Mexican

In a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Selena Gomez revealed the moment she realized the importance of diverse representation in media.

The 25-year-old singer remembers being approached by a fan back when she was filming Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place as a teenager. It was one encounter that would stick with Selena forever.

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“I’ll never forget when I was doing my TV show – we would do these live tapings every Friday, and one Friday there was this single mother with her four kids.”

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“She was Latin, and she came up to me after, crying. Her kids were so excited, but I noticed the mom, so I gave her a hug and asked, ‘Hey, are you okay?'”

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“And she was like, ‘It’s really incredible for my daughters to see that a Latina woman can be in this position and achieve her dreams, someone who isn’t the typical, you know, blonde with blue eyes.'”

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Selena, who was named after iconic Mexican singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, admitted she completely understood what this woman meant. Growing up, the “Bad Liar” singer said she idolized Hilary Duff and wanted blue eyes like a lot of the popular white celebrities.

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“So I think I recognized then that it meant something to people. That it matters. Even recently I’ve experienced things with my dad that were racially charged.”

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“Most of the time, though, I try to separate my career from my culture because I don’t want people to judge me based on my looks when they have no idea who I am.”

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But it’s these personal experiences that made Selena fall in love with her Mexican heritage all over again.